- Ambrogio Lorenzetti
Ambrogio Lorenzetti (or Ambruogio Laurati; c. 1290 –
June 9 ,1348 ) was an Italian painter of theSienese school . He was active between approximately from 1317 to 1348. His elder brother was the painterPietro Lorenzetti .His work shows the influence of
Simone Martini , although more naturalistic. The earliest dated work of the Sienese painter is a "Madonna and Child" (1319, Museo Diocesano, San Casciano). His presence was documented inFlorentine up until 1321. He would return there after spending a number of years inSiena . [Casu, Franchi, Franci. The Great Masters of European Art. Barnes & Noble, Inc., 2006. Page 34, Retrieved November 25, 2006.]The frescoes on the walls of the Hall of the Nine (Sala dei Nove) or Hall of the Peace (Sala della Pace) in the Palazzo Pubblico of Siena are one of the masterworks of early renaissance secular painting. The "nine" was the oligarchal assembly of guild and monetary interests that governed the republic. Three walls are painted with frescoes consisting of a large assembly of allegorical figures of virtues in the "
Allegory of Good Government " [http://www.shu.ac.uk/emls/01-2/l_full.jpg] . In the other two facing panels, Ambrogio weaves panoramic visions of "Effects of Good Government on Town and Country ", and "Allegory of Bad Government and its Effects on Town and Country" (also called "Ill-governed Town and Country"). The better preserved "well-governed town and country" is an unrivaled pictorial encyclopedia of incidents in a peaceful medieval "borgo" and countryside.The first evidence of the existence of the
hourglass can be found in one of his paintings (see external link above).Like his brother, he is believed to have died of
bubonic plague 1348.Giorgio Vasari includes a biography of Lorenzetti in his "Lives".elected works
* "Virgin and Child Enthroned" (1319)
* "San Procolo altarpiece" (1332)
* "Investiture of St. Louis of Toulouse" (1329), fresco at San Francesco, Siena
* "Franciscan Martyrdom at Bombay" (c. 1336), fresco at San Francesco, Siena
* Santa Petronilla Altarpiece (1340s)References
External links
* [http://www.aiwaz.net/gallery/lorenzetti-ambrogio/gc57 Ambrogio Lorenzetti at Panopticon Virtual Art Gallery]
* [http://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~arch343/lecture10.html Arch 343: Cities in History - Lecture 10: The Uses of Decorum - Lorenzetti's Good and Bad Governement]
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